


In the Lift

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-05-24
Updated: 2005-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-31 07:37:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15114767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: His lips were soft, and his tongue tasted of orange juice.  Leo McGarry tasted of orange juice.





	In the Lift

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**In the Lift**

**by: Montiese**

**Pairing(s):** CJ/Leo  
**Category(s):** Comedy/General  
**Rating:** TEEN  
**Disclaimer:** Belongs to Aaron Sorkin, et al.  
**Summary:** His lips were soft, and his tongue tasted of orange juice.  Leo McGarry tasted of orange juice.  
**Author's Note:** I don’t know if there are elevators in the White House...I have only been there once. 

"Hold the elevator!"

CJ came running down the hall and into the elevator.  She slipped on her wet galoshes and Leo had to grab her hand to keep her from slamming into the wall.

"Thanks Leo." She said smiling.

"So that thing going around about you being a bit of a klutz..."

"Shut up.  I have very long legs and sometimes I lose control of them."

"That sounds like fun." Leo grinned.

She slapped his arm as the elevator shook.  They both grabbed the support bar.  It shook again, more violently this time, and Leo almost fell over.  CJ helped him steady himself.  The lights flickered, dimmed, and went out completely.  Plunged into darkness on an unsteady elevator...this morning was not shaping up to be good at all.

"Are you alright CJ?"

Leo reached out for her, grabbed something he should not have, and pulled back.  Trying again, he made contact with her hip.

"I’m OK.  It really is pitch black in here."

It was also quiet.  No humming, no cables, nothing.  CJ wondered how long it would take them to run out of air.  She moved closer to Leo, he put his arm around her waist.

"Are you claustrophobic or afraid of the dark?" he asked.

"Um, that may be what we are about to find out.  I don’t know too many people comfortable with the idea of being plunged into involuntary darkness.  I hope our first week in the White House is not some kind of trend."

"It won't take long for someone to notice we’re gone CJ."

"You're right." She replied.

Of course, they would get no cell phone signal in the elevator.  The phones would go straight to voicemail when Josh or Toby tried to call.  Within the hour, The President would dispatch the Secret Service to find the missing Chief of Staff and Press Secretary.  Maybe there would be APBs, and the shutting down of Union Station...would anyone think to check the elevator?  CJ shivered.

"Take off the wet coat and hat before you catch cold." Leo said it in his ‘no argument’ voice.

CJ took off her coat and hat, dropping them by her feet.  She took a deep breath.

"Maybe the phone works." She said. 

"Let’s see if I can find it." Leo said.  "Hold onto my hand; I’m going to reach for it."

CJ took his hand and Leo ventured to the front of the elevator.

"Its dead." He said after a few minutes of silence.

"That does not surprise me in the least.  C’mon lets sit; this could be awhile."

CJ doubled her coat and they sat on it, backs to the wall.  They sat shoulder to shoulder and she still held onto his hand.  Leo didn’t know if she was scared, but he knew there were 150 places she would rather be.

"Do you think if we screamed...?" she suggested.

"The walls are thick.  Anyway, most likely we are between floors.  Someone will notice soon that we are not there CJ."

"Except you didn’t schedule a staff for this morning.  My first briefing is not until 11."

"I love your faith in things." Leo replied.

"Oh I know we are going to get out of here.  The question becomes will I be a blubbering shell of my former self when we do so."

Leo nodded, though she could not see him.  He flexed his thumb across her knuckles.

"When you were a little girl and scared, what did you do?"

CJ was quiet and Leo felt her chest going up and down in ragged breaths.  This would not get easier if she started to cry.  He was already fighting the urge to take her into his arms.  The last thing she needed was to feel like he took advantage of the dark and molested her.

"My mom and I used to sing.  It was always Elton John or Simon and Garfunkel.  I remember the night of this terrible thunderstorm; I guess I was maybe 7 or 8.  She hid under my covers with me...we made a blanket tent.  We sang the _Sound of Silence_ and _Homeward Bound_.  I hope nothing ever takes that memory from me."

"It sounds wonderful.  Mothers are wonderful people. Mine used to put on Mario Lanza records and dance around the kitchen.  She taught me to dance.  She also taught me how to bake bread."

"You can make bread?" CJ asked.

"Cinnamon bread and banana bread.  She got the recipe from our neighbor, Mrs. Bradley.  The house always smelled good when I got home from school."

"Did you wear those cute short pants?" CJ asked with a chuckle.

"Until I started school, yes.  I grew up quickly CJ; had to take care of my mother and sisters."

"Why?"

"My father died when I was 12.  He put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger."

CJ gasped.  Leo held her hand tighter.

"I’m sorry; I should not have said that."

"It’s OK.  I was 12 when my mother died; it was cancer.  I never..."

"What?"

"It is definitely too early to be talking about this." She said.  "I never felt right again, until I met Toby."

"The two of you are close." Leo said.

"We have been separated but you can't separate our souls...we’re soul mates.  At least I think so.  Toby always smirks when I say it but that doesn't matter because smirking is his thing."

"I can tell that he cares a lot for you.  They all do."

"Who?" CJ asked.

She looked at him and he could feel it.  She shifted so that their knees touched.

"Toby, Sam, and Josh.  You have them enamored."

"I certainly don’t think so, but thank you.  What did you do when you were little and frightened Leo?"

"I slept soundly when I was a child...you had to in my house or be awake.  Honestly, I do not scare easily."

"Great.  I am trapped in an elevator with General Patton."

Leo laughed.  He noticed she now only trembled occasionally.

"Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever tire of this, the Washington way?  It’s only been a week and I feel like I am in over my head.  We have to get out of here...I am revealing too much."

"No, you are fine.  It’s always hard in the beginning; I’ve been doing this for thirty years.  Politics is not for the faint at heart Claudia Jean.  You will be just fine.  You guys are going to lean on each other over the next four years.  I will be there when it gets to be too much."

"I am starting to wish I got coffee before I came in." CJ said.

She shivered though it was not cold.  Leo lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.  Then he leaned and kissed her lips softly.  CJ pulled away, but said nothing.  Leo leaned in again...she met him halfway.  He brought his hand up to caress her face and touch her hair.  The other hand still held hers.  His lips were soft, and his tongue tasted of orange juice.  Leo McGarry tasted of orange juice.

They both breathed heavier when it was over.  CJ toyed with the collar of his dress shirt.

"Was that to calm my nerves?" CJ asked.

"That is not the first time I kissed you." Leo replied.

"It is the first time you’ve ever kissed me in a broken elevator."

"Well yeah.  We haven’t had much of an opportunity for that in the past."

"It was nice." She said.

"Yeah.  I'm going to do it again, OK?"

"OK."

He kissed her with more passion this time; Leo put his arm around her waist pulling her close.  CJ moaned as her tongue played against his.  If kissing were an Olympic sport, Leo McGarry would have followed a very different path.  The lights flickered and came back on.  They were very dim, but enough for CJ to see that Leo was going for the buttons of her blouse next. He wanted better access to her neck.

"The lights are back on." She whispered in his ear as he sucked on her neck.  "Oh Leo...the lights are back on."

"I know." He moved from her reluctantly.  "We’re still not moving."

CJ nodded, saying without words that returning to the task of her neck was fine by her.

"I love your neck." He murmured against her skin."  "You smell so good."

"I’m wearing Eternity today."

"I love it Claudia Jean."

Their one night together had been on the campaign trail.  It happened the night of the Illinois primary...the night Josh’s father died.  The celebration ended quickly.  As soon as the Governor made his remarks the weary staffers went back to their hotel rooms.  Toby stayed with her a little while, but he was gone by one.  CJ cried that night; cried for Josh who in a few short months had become her brother.

Leo arrived shortly after the tears.  Though she cried on his shoulder, and asked him not to leave her alone, CJ never expected them to make love.  She also never expected it to be Earth shattering.  She had seen her share of men.  Not so many that she could not look herself in the face; she still favored the affection of a relationship over the fleeting delight of a romp between the sheets.  On that night with Leo, CJ flew amongst the clouds.

It felt as if they were longtime lovers...he knew where to touch her, how to kiss her, how to heal her.  The next morning it was over.  Leo was still Leo.  He did not try to pretend it never happened, or that it was a horrible mistake.  They told each other through body language and some small talk that certain priorities outweighed desires of the flesh.  There were times when CJ would see him look at her and know he was thinking of that night.  She knew how often she thought of it.  It was seared into her brain like the lyrics of _The Jackal_ , every word of _Hannah and her Sisters_ , and the night she got a very drunk Toby to sing _The Way We Were_.

CJ rested her head on his shoulder when Leo finally exhausted himself making love to her neck.

"I think about you all the time." He said.

"We work together." CJ replied, not really knowing what she meant by that sentence.

"That night, the primary, it was special."

"Yeah."

"I want it again CJ."

She smiled.

"How do you think we will do that?" she asked.

"We’re grown ups, we can find a way.  My hotel is four blocks from your apartment."

"Leo..."

"I mean, unless you don’t want this.  I can respect that because it won’t be easy."

"I want it.  I also want to pour whiskey in my coffee on most mornings.  That doesn’t make it right or logical."

"Tell me about it." He replied.  "How about you start by having dinner with me?"

"OK.  I would love to."

"OK."

He kissed her once more before Sam’s voice cut their moment short.

"CJ, hey CJ are you in there?"

CJ scrambled to her feet with Leo’s help.

"Sam!  Leo and I are stuck in the elevator."

"We have been looking all over for you." Sam said.

"The elevator phone is dead...our cell phones don’t have signals."

"It may take another 10 minutes or so to get you out of there.  Did you say Leo was with you?"

"Yeah Sam." Leo called up.

"OK.  I’ll let the President know you’ve both been accounted for.  He was worried sick."

"Thanks Sam." CJ replied.

She stood against the wall and Leo pressed against her.  It wasn’t in a lewd way but CJ knew it would’ve gotten heavy again if not for Sam’s intrusion.

"Saturday night, 8pm, at Bella Trattoria." He said.  "Wear something beautiful and a pair of high heels."

"I’ll be like half a foot taller than you." CJ replied.

"I know...I love that."

"You do?  OK."

"One more kiss, before reality comes crashing down on us."

"Leo, we are stuck in an elevator, please don't talk about anything crashing down on us."

He smiled as CJ pulled his face to hers.  Leo slipped his hand under her suit jacket and caressed her back.  CJ rubbed against him.

"OK, OK, we have to stop." Leo pulled away from her.

She picked up her coat and hat.

"I will get your coat cleaned.  The cushion was appreciated."

She nodded.  The elevator jarred a bit but did not move.

"Any second now." She said, realizing she did not want to go back to the West Wing and have the kind of day when screaming and stamping her feet seemed the only viable option.

The elevator finally moved; they stood far enough apart for propriety.  When the doors opened Sam and Josh rushed to her.

"You alright?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah." She replied.

"Are you alright Leo?" Josh asked.

"Sure.  I need to see the President.  Give me the coat CJ."

She handed it to him and thanked him.  He gave her a lopsided grin and walked away.

"I am going to my office." She said.  "I will sleep with the first person to bring me coffee...I don’t care what sex they are."

Ten minutes later CJ lay on her couch with her eyes closed.  Toby knocked lightly, walking in with a steaming cup of coffee.

"Hey Toby."

"How did you know?"

Her eyes were closed as he closed the door.  Putting the coffee on the table Toby sat down in the chair beside her.  He ran his fingers through her hair.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

"Yeah.  I knew it was you because of the footsteps...and I recognize your smell."

"That does not sound like a compliment CJ." 

She gave a tired smile.  Sitting up and opening her eyes, CJ drank from the mug as if it were her last cup.

"I was scared." She said.

"I know.  How did Leo keep you from going insane?"

"He talked to me.  We talked about childhood, and short pants, songs my mother and I used to sing.  We talked about us."

"Us?" Toby asked.

"You and me, all of us.  He said we will need to lean on each other a lot over the next four years.  I told him I never listened to Simon and Garfunkel again until I met you."

"Yeah."

CJ reached for his hand; held it in her own.

"Did you know about the bet?" she asked.

"What bet?  Josh just told me to bring this to you...I was going to come in anyway."

CJ laughed.

"I said I would sleep with the first person who got me coffee."

"So you're telling me that it is my lucky day?"

"I am Tobus.  Take off your clothes; I have some time to kill."

She looked at him and loved his smile.

"I’m glad you weren’t alone." Toby said.

"Me too.  They may have had to put the jacket on me after they pulled me out."

Toby stood and CJ dropped his hand.  He leaned to kiss her cheek.

"I’ll see you later OK."

"Yeah.  Thanks again for the coffee."

"I plan to collect my reward sometime in the near future; that’s a promise."

"Anytime, anyplace Toby...you know that.  I do take requests and I am pretty flexible."

He nodded, walking out of her office.  CJ put her head down and took a deep breath.  Putting the experience behind her, she ran her fingers through her hair and drank the rest of her coffee.

\--------------------------------------------------------

CJ hoped it was the right door as she tapped on it.  How embarrassing would it be for an insurance salesman from Topeka to open his door and see the White House Press Secretary?  Of course she had only been at her job a week; half the reporters didn’t fully recognize her yet.  He would probably think he lucked out and the boss paid for a hooker.  She smiled when Leo opened the door and he returned it.

"Come in."

She walked in and looked around.  It was strange to her that a grown man lived in a hotel suite, no matter that it was fully stocked and in the district’s nicest hotel.  It had to cost an arm and a leg.  CJ knew he was almost divorced...he and Jenny had been legally separated since a few weeks before she met him in Concord.

"Can I get you a drink?" he asked.  "I don’t have alcohol, but there is water, cranberry apple juice, orange juice if you want it."

"Your mouth tasted like orange juice." CJ replied.  "This morning."

"Would you like some?"

"No, water is fine."

Leo grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.  They sat on the couch; CNN played on low volume.  Was this man ever not working?

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.  "You seemed shaky all day."

CJ nodded.

"It was a long day.  I made it through though."

"Like a trooper." Leo said.

CJ saluted him and he grinned.

"What brings you to my hotel suite late at night Claudia Jean?"

"Stimulation, of course."

She put her arms around his neck and pulled him close.  Leo put his hands on her hips.

"We aren’t talking about conversation, are we?" he asked.

"No.  Not right now.  Is that OK?"

Leo nodded.  He kissed her lips softly as she straddled his lap.  Yeah, he could skip the conversation anyway.  Leo unbuttoned her blouse, pulling it down her arms.  Then the camisole hit the floor too.

"Are we really doing this?" he whispered.

"Oh yeah."

"And we’re still having dinner tomorrow night?"

"I’ll still be here tomorrow night.  We’re not talking now though."

"Right, I forgot."

Leo kissed her neck and shoulders.  CJ leaned her head back, moaning her satisfaction.

"I want you so much CJ."

"I know.  Me too."

CJ shifted her weight, caressed his erection.

"Oh God."

"Bedroom now." She demanded.

They went to the bedroom, closing the door behind them as if it mattered.


End file.
